2 aldermen back Daley foe

mayor shrugs it off

As two City Council members backed challenger William "Dock" Walls in the Feb. 27 election, Mayor Richard Daley said Wednesday that he doesn't hold it against aldermen who endorse his opponents and doesn't penalize their wards.

Ald. Arenda Troutman (20th) and Ald. Howard Brookins Jr. (21st) have thrown their support to Walls, a one-time aide to the late Mayor Harold Washington.

"I don't care who they support," Daley said. "This is America ... I have never looked (negatively) at any development, any project, anything for the community because they are supporting somebody else. It doesn't matter."

If Troutman and Brookins "really believe that he (Walls) should manage the city government, that is their personal belief," Daley said. "But I appeal to everyone in the city."

Brookins said Walls "has more support in my community" than Daley. "Dock is someone who understands my community."

Daley scoffed at Brookins' contention that he has been seeking a private meeting with the mayor for several years to discuss economic development in his ward.

"I see him so much that it is exhausting," Daley said. "Why doesn't he just take care of his own self ? If he supports Walls, then let him support Walls."

Brookins also is an ally of U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), who had considered challenging Daley.

Witnesses said Daley rebuffed Brookins when the alderman approached him to talk outside a City Council meeting last fall, shortly after Jackson announced his decision not to run.

"You don't want to talk to me," the mayor said. "I'll see you on the (political) battlefield."

After that incident, "I didn't think he was supporting me, so you have to go where your friends are," Brookins said Wednesday.

Troutman's endorsement of Walls came on "The Cliff Kelley Show" on WVON-AM. Troutman is fighting allegations that she took a bribe to help push a non-existent South Side real estate development as part of a federal sting. She was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

"Those are the kinds of endorsements that really matter," Walls said. "These are aldermen that have proven organizations ... Even though (Troutman) is under a cloud, she is innocent until proven guilty. You can't always accept everything as truth that the federal government says. I am proud to receive both of their endorsements."

Meanwhile, mayoral candidate Dorothy Brown criticized Daley for failing to finalize what she contended was an agreement to settle a lawsuit against the city stemming from the alleged torture of three men at the hands of former police Cmdr. Jon Burge.

"It makes me feel these guys are being tortured all over again, when they felt they were close to being made whole," Brown said. "I would have bargained in good faith."

Daley contends that he has not been presented with a final settlement proposal.

On another issue, Daley said he favors development of a trucks-only Crosstown Expressway with one lane in each direction and a rapid transit line in the middle. It would be built above existing freight rail lines in the Cicero Avenue corridor.

The mayor's remarks came a day after Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) floated the idea of a new Crosstown that would be operated as a toll road.

"Everybody has these concepts," Daley said. "Don't be afraid of an idea or concept. And the people are going to amend it."